Profile of the Lukewarm, Part 2

Tweet

This is a continuation of my previous post. Again, this was taken from the newsletter from Crazy Love authored by Francis Chan. LUKEWARM PEOPLE are thankful for their luxuries and comforts, and rarely consider trying to give as much as possible to the poor. They are quick to point out, "Jesus never said money is the root of all evil, only that the love of money is." Untold numbers of lukewarm people feel "called" to minister to the rich; very few feel "called" to minister to the poor. LUKEWARM PEOPLE do whatever is necessary to keep themselves from feeling too guilty. They want to do the bare minimum, to be "good enough" without it requiring too much of them. They ask, "How far can I go before it’s considered a sin?" instead of "How can I keep myself pure as a temple of the Holy Spirit?" They ask, "How much do I have to give?" instead of "How much can I give?" They ask, "How much time should I spend praying and reading my Bible?" instead of "I wish I didn’t have to go to work, so I could sit here and read longer!" LUKEWARM PEOPLE are continually concerned with playing it safe; they are slaves to the god of control. This focus on safe living keeps them from sacrificing and risking for God. LUKEWARM PEOPLE feel secure because they attend church, made a profession of faith at age twelve, were baptized, come from a Christian family, vote Republican, or live in America. Just as the prophets in the Old Testament warned Israel that they were not safe just because they lived in the land of Israel, so we are not safe just because we wear the label Christian or because some people persist in calling us a "Christian nation." LUKEWARM PEOPLE do not live by faith; their lives are structured so they never have to. They don’t have to trust God if something unexpected happens--they have their savings account. They don’t need God to help them--they have their retirement plan in place. They don’t genuinely seek out what life God would have them live--they have life figured and mapped out. They don’t depend on God on a daily basis--their refrigerators are full and, for the most part, they are in good health. The truth is, their lives wouldn’t look much different if they suddenly stopped believing in God. LUKEWARM PEOPLE probably drink and swear less than average, but besides that, they really aren’t very different from your typical unbeliever. They equate their partially sanitized lives with holiness, but they couldn’t be more wrong. This profile of the lukewarm is not an all-inclusive definition of what it means to be a Christian, nor is it intended to be used as ammunition to judge your fellow believers' salvation. Instead, as 2 Corinthians 13:5 says, it is a call to “examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves? We are all messed-up human beings, and no one is totally immune to the behaviors described in the previous examples. However, there is a difference between a life that is characterized by these sorts of mentalities and habits and a life that is in the process of being radically transformed. We’ll get to the transformation later, but now is the time to take a serious self-inventory. So if you want to know more about this book, you can visit his site at http://crazylovebook.com.